


Before You Go

by JoMo3



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: F/M, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-06
Updated: 2019-07-06
Packaged: 2020-06-23 16:05:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,361
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19704781
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JoMo3/pseuds/JoMo3
Summary: Taking place the night before she leaves Hawkins, Eleven gets a visit from Mike.





	Before You Go

**Author's Note:**

> Stranger Things 3 was one helluva roller coaster.

Eleven felt she was always leaving. She’d left the lab; though that may have been the best thing that could’ve happened. She’d left Mike and her friends, merely days after meeting them and knowing what a real home was. She’d left the cabin, on to meet her mother and aunt, only to leave them, too. She’d left Kali, her “sister,” but she knew that was never going to be a permanent situation. Shorty after the fight at Starcourt she’d had to leave the cabin, moving here with Joyce, Will, and Jonathan. That wasn’t including how she and Hopper had left each other.

Hopper…

And tomorrow she’d be leaving again.  _ Bloomington _ , Joyce had called it.  _ A place for a new start _ . And though it took awhile before she knew what that phrase meant, she eventually came to understand it. The town of Hawkins would always have good memories, but there were so many bad memories here, too. So she knew why Joyce wanted to leave. And although she didn’t want to leave her friends behind, she knew that maybe it was for the best, though.

That didn’t mean it didn’t hurt.

El had been mopey the past few days; so had Will, and so had Jonathan, too. Will had come around to moving first, more than likely considering all of the possessions and monsters he’d dealt with over the last two years. Jonathan had came around next. He didn’t want to leave, but he wanted what was best for the family. El had been the last to come around, of course. She hadn’t had any tantrums like she did with Hopper, but there had been a couple of days where she gave Joyce the, as Max called it, “the cold shoulder.”

The Party had been spending all of their free time together recently, and El knew Joyce was smart enough to know that Nancy was spending the night here a few times a week. Since she’d come to live with them, Eleven had been sleeping with Joyce, except for the days they weren’t talking, and El would sleep on the couch.

Tonight, though, she took Jonathan’s room, as he was off spending the night with Nancy. It’d been one of the few days she had a room, and a bed, to herself since leaving the cabin. Usually she’d be asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow. Tonight, though, sleep evaded her. She knew that this would be the last time she’d be in this house. The last time she’d see her friends (for a while, at least). The last time she’d be “home.”

In the new house she’d have her own room, and Max was already coordinating a visit to help El decorate her new space. She was somewhat excited about the move, but today had been a draining day. The Party had filled the day with as much togetherness and fun as they could squeeze into the limited time they had, but it still hadn’t felt like enough. There’d be tomorrow, but tomorrow would be all packing and goodbyes and crying, and she wasn’t ready for it yet.

_ Tap tap tap _

El sat up, hearing something in the dark.  _ What was it? _

_ Tap tap _

She heard it again. Reaching next to her, she turned on the bedside lamp and tried to figure out where the sound was coming from; it almost sounded like it was coming from the window.

_ El? It’s me. _

She got out of bed, clamoring out from under the sheets and rushing to the window. She’d know that voice anywhere.

She yanked open the window, and was greeted with the face of her boyfriend. “Mike?” she whispered.

He nodded, grinning slightly. “Hey.”

“What...what’re you doing here?”

“I had to see you,” he said as she backed up. He was desperately trying to climb inside; but the window’s limited opening plus Mike’s gangliness and clumsiness didn’t help him out, and he came tumbling in, knocking over a nearby box as he fell on his face with an  _ oomph! _

She took his arm, helping him up. “Are you okay?” she asked, concern coming over her face.

Mike nodded, smiling weakly. “Yeah, I’m fine, El.”

She smirked, then went to close the window. “How’d you know I was in Jonathan’s room?” she asked.

“Well...he’s staying over at my house, so I figured you were here.” He was carrying his backpack, and he shrugged it off his shoulders and placed it gently on the ground. “Shit,” he said, looking towards the door. “Do you think I woke up Mrs. Byers?”

“No,” El said, shaking her head. She tried to think of something Will had said once; “She weighs a lot when she sleeps.”

Mike chuckled. “Do you mean she’s a heavy sleeper?”

“Yes,” El said, realizing her mistake. Again she asked her question. “Why are you here?”

“Like I said,” he told her, facing her. “I wanted to see you.”

“But you’ll see me tomorrow,” she told him.

“Yeah, but...I don't know. Tomorrow’s not enough.”

She nodded, and went into his arms as he held her close. El didn’t think she would, but she suddenly felt herself crying. Maybe it was the combination of her sleeplessness, or thinking about tomorrow, or the fact that she knew she wouldn’t get much more time with Mike, but before she knew it she was quietly crying into his chest.

“El, it’s okay,” he said, lowering them both to a sitting position on the ground. “It’s okay.” She snuggled against him, crying into his shoulder as he put his arm around her.

“Don’t want to leave,” she muttered after a moment.

“I know,” Mike said. When El looked up, she saw that he had tears in his eyes, too. “It’s not fair.” He looked down at her. “I...I mean  _ we _ just got you back, and now…” He trailed off, but Eleven knew what he meant.

“I’m happy you’re here,” she said back quietly.

Mike smiled, and pulled her closer.

It was quiet for a few minutes between them, until El said “I couldn’t sleep.”

Mike frowned. “You couldn’t?”

“No,” she said, shaking her head. “I keep...thinking about tomorrow.”

Mike sighed. “Me too.” After a beat, he asked “I never asked what you and Max did.”

Eleven smiled. Towards the start of the day, the boys had gathered for a two hour game of Dungeons & Dragons, while the girls had gone elsewhere. “We got ice cream,” she said. “And went to Max’s house. Looked at magazines.”

Mike smirked. “Max told me you like Ralph Macchio.”

El chuckled, briefly. “Karate Kid?”

“Yeah, Daniel-San.”

She looked at him, smiling but confused. “Daniel-San?”

“It was what Mr. Miyagi called him, remember?”

“Oh,” she said, nodding in remembrance.

“I just hope he doesn’t show up, you know, in Bloomington. I don’t want you to ‘dump my ass’ again.”

Eleven smiled. “I didn’t really dump you, Mike,” she said.

Mike smiled. They had talked, briefly, about what would happen to their relationship with her moving away. The first month after the Starcourt incident had been taxing on them, but El especially. She’d leaned on Mike even more than usual for support. As a result, their relationship was stronger than ever for the most part, and they knew a silly little thing like distance wouldn’t hurt them. Besides, they’d gone up against much worse.

Mike looked around at the boxes scattered in the bedroom, and his gaze landed on two stacked boxes near the door. “Did Mrs. Byers bring the rest of Ho...his stuff?”

El saw where he was looking, and nodded her head. “His other boxes are in her bedroom,” she told him.

It got quiet for a minute before Mike said “Do you remember the first time he caught us kissing in your room?”

Eleven smiled, recalling the memory. “Yes.”

“He barged in all like ‘what the  _ hell _ do you think you’re doing? You can’t have a boy in your room’ and he just went on and on,” Mike said, chuckling. “I thought he was gonna kill me for sure.”

“He wanted the door open all the way,” she said.

Mike grinned. “But you were able to talk him down to three inches.”

”Compromise,” El said, recalling one of her father’s words. “Remember when he got the ruler and measured?”

Mike chuckled. Doing his best Hopper expression, he said “That’s not three inches! That’s two and three quarters!”

Eleven giggled into his shoulder, remembering the argument from that night. When the laughter had died down from both of them, she let out another sniffle. “I really miss him.”

Mike nodded and squeezed her shoulder. “I know.”

It had taken some time before Eleven was ready to talk about Hopper; even at his funeral she hadn’t said much. It took even longer for her to return to the cabin and get her things. But with the help of her friends and new family, she’d made big leaps.

It was quiet for a few moments again, until El’s eyes drifted down to Mike’s navy blue backpack. Again, she asked “Mike? Why did you come over?”

“I just wanted to see you,” he repeated. “And I, um...I brought some stuff.”

Reluctantly, the two let go of one another as Mike leaned forward and pulled his backpack to him. Unzipping it, he brought it to his lap as El resumed her place on his shoulder.

“I know we’ve been giving you and Will some stuff”-the Party had gifted many trinkets over the last few days- “But there was some stuff I wanted to give you, too.”

The first thing he pulled from his pack was a folded white checkered sheet that El immediately recognized.

“From the fort,” she said, taking it into her hands. She brought it to her nose, smelling it.

“It’s clean,” Mike said with a smile. “My mom said she doesn’t really use it anymore, so...I thought maybe you could put it on your bed?”

She nodded as he pulled the next thing out of his backpack. “This is a Walkman,” he explained. “You can listen to music on it and…”

“Mike, I know what it is,” she said, taking it into her hands.

“Oh. Nancy, she...she wasn’t using hers anymore, and she said you could have it. Oh, and here.” He dug his hand back inside and came out with a cassette tape. “Jonathan helped me make a mixtape. It’s got Corey Hart, The Police, REO Speedwagon. Some Madonna, Max suggested that. Jonathan and Will said I  _ had _ to put The Clash on here. Um...some Jim Croce, too.”

Eleven smiled, feeling tears well in her eyes once more. “Thank you,” she said.

“And, um...I got you something else.” He reached back in, and El could tell Mike was a little nervous about whatever it was he was reaching for. He came out with a small box. “I wanted to get you this when you ‘dumped my ass’ but I couldn’t.” He opened the box, and Eleven smiled when she saw the small golden teddy bear.

“It’s so  _ cute _ , Mike,” she said, picking up the bear and inspecting it.

Mike blushed. “I pretty much had to use all of my allowance for the last four months to get it,” he said. “I saw it at Starcourt first, but I found a jewelry store downtown that had the same one.” He looked at El, who was still turning it in her hands. “You like it?”

A tear rolling down her cheek, she nodded before hugging him close. “Thank you,” she said, sobbing quietly.

“You’re welcome,” he said, hugging her just as tight. “I was going to give it to you tomorrow, you know, but I didn’t know if there’d be time, and…” He shook his head.

“Mike?” she asked, turning to look at him.

“I just...I don’t want you to go, El.”

She sniffled, and snuggled closer. “I don’t, either.”

“We’re always leaving each other,” he said, tears going down his cheek. “The...the time with the Demogorgon, then you staying in the cabin. Now this. I just want us to be together, forever.”

“I want that too,” she replied.

They both cried quietly for a few minutes, letting it all out before she said “I’m glad you came over, Mike.”

He sniffled. “I am, too.” He rubbed her arm as she sat up, wiping at her nose. “Hey, um...El?”

“Yes?” she asked, curious.

“There’s...there’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you.”

“Okay.”

“Uh...well..I just...remember that time at Big Buy, when we were trying to fix your leg?”

“Yes.”

“And...I tried to say it  _ then _ , but I got...stuck. Well...I mean...now that we’re, um...alone, I wanted to…”

She tilted her head; she had an idea of what he was going to say, but she didn’t know why it was so hard for him.

He sighed. “I wanted to say…” Another sigh. “I just...want to say…”

“Mike,” she said, touching his cheek, and saving him from himself.

“Yeah, El?”

“I’m glad we’re back together, too.”

He smiled, probably knowing what she was doing, before he leaned in, his lips meeting hers as they shared a kiss. She held his cheek while he held her waist, pulling her close to him. Both of them knew they would have tomorrow but this, this moment was their own, without the eyes of friends and family on them.

When they parted their eyes met, both telling the other with a look what they couldn’t say in words just yet. El put her head back on his shoulder, and he wrapped an arm around her.

“Can you stay?” she asked, her eyes closing.

“Hm?”

“Can you stay? Until I fall asleep?”

“Of course,” he said. “I’m not going anywhere.”

She smiled, humming a sigh of content as she began to slowly drift off.

Joyce found them the next morning, slumped against each other, asleep. She wasn’t too surprised about it; nor was she upset. Smiling at their sleeping forms, she decided to let them sleep just a little bit longer. They deserved it.

**Author's Note:**

> I thought season 3 was great, but I had three issues with it.  
> 1\. Hopper! As much as I ship Mileven (and I'll get to that in a sec), it was heartbreaking to see him "die." Crossing my fingers he's the American the Russians referred to.  
> 2\. Eleven moving away. WHY ARE SHE AND MIKE ALWAYS BEING SEPARATED!? UGH!!  
> 3\. Mike's inability to tell Eleven that he loves her. I was seriously yelling at my TV when they were alone in the supermarket. It was funny, but I was like, dude...come on. 
> 
> What'd you guys think of ST3?  
> Hopefully I'll have new stuff up somewhat soon. Thanks.


End file.
